Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 17, 2004

Photo: EVAN VUCCI

Image 1of/9

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 9

Bruce DeCell, left rear, Bill Doyle, center, and Father Brian Jordan, right, listen to the 9-11 Commission public hearing on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 in Washington. DeCell lost his son in law Mark Retrocelli in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, Doyle lost his son Joseph Doyle in the Nort Tower of the World Trade Center, and Jordan is a fellow friar of Father Michael Judge who was also killed in the Trade Center attack. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) less

Bruce DeCell, left rear, Bill Doyle, center, and Father Brian Jordan, right, listen to the 9-11 Commission public hearing on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 in Washington. DeCell lost his son in law Mark Retrocelli in ... more

Photo: EVAN VUCCI

Image 2 of 9

CIA official identified as "Dr. K" shrugs during the 9-11 Commission final two-day public hearing on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 in Washington. From left are FBI Special Agent Debroah Doran and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) less

CIA official identified as "Dr. K" shrugs during the 9-11 Commission final two-day public hearing on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 in Washington. From left are FBI Special Agent Debroah Doran and U.S. Attorney ... more

Photo: EVAN VUCCI

Image 3 of 9

Two men, indentified by authorities as suspected hijackers Mohammed Atta, right, and Abdulaziz Alomari, center, pass through airport security, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 at Portland International Jetport in this photo from the airport surveillance tape released Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2001. Authorities say the two men took a commuter flight to Boston before boarding American Airlines Flight 11 which was one of four jetliners hijacked Sept. 11, 2001, and one of two which were crashed into the World Trade Center. (AP Photo/Portland Police Department) CAT less

Two men, indentified by authorities as suspected hijackers Mohammed Atta, right, and Abdulaziz Alomari, center, pass through airport security, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 at Portland International Jetport in this ... more

Image 4 of 9

Port side view showing the damage sustained by the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) after a suspected terrorist bomb exploded during a refueling operation in the port of Aden, October 12, 2000. Navy officials in Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet is based, said a small boat rammed into the USS Cole, one of the world's most advanced guided missile destroyers, killing five and injuring 36 others. REUTERS/U.S.Navy/Handout 0 less

Port side view showing the damage sustained by the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) after a suspected terrorist bomb exploded during a refueling operation in the port of Aden, ... more

Photo: HO

Image 5 of 9

FILE--A fireball explodes from one of the World Trade Center towers after a jet airliner crashed into the building in this file photo of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, in New York. Three months after the World Trade Center attack, victims' families are being forced to face the ghastly possibility that many of the dead were "vaporized," as the medical examiner put it, and may never be identified. (AP Photo/Carmen Taylor, File) less

FILE--A fireball explodes from one of the World Trade Center towers after a jet airliner crashed into the building in this file photo of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, in New York. Three months after the World Trade ... more

Photo: CARMEN TAYLOR

Image 6 of 9

** FILE ** Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003 in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. (AP Photo)

** FILE ** Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged Sept. 11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan Saturday March 1, 2003 in this photo obtained by the Associated Press. (AP Photo)

Image 7 of 9

** FILE ** This is an undated photo of Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Rebuffing Bush administration claims, the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said Wednesday, June 16, 2004 no evidence exists that al-Qaida had strong ties to Saddam Hussein. In hair-raising detail, the commission said the terror network had envisioned a much larger attack and is working hard to strike again.(AP Photo) less

** FILE ** This is an undated photo of Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Rebuffing Bush administration claims, the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks said Wednesday, June 16, 2004 no ... more

Image 8 of 9

** FILE ** Mohamed Atta is shown in this photo released Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001, in a State of Florida Division of Motor Vehicles photograph. (AP Photo)

** FILE ** Mohamed Atta is shown in this photo released Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2001, in a State of Florida Division of Motor Vehicles photograph. (AP Photo)

2004-06-17 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Terrorists who plotted the Sept. 11 attacks initially envisioned an even deadlier plan, to hijack 10 planes and crash them into targets on the East and West coasts -- including tall buildings in California -- according to a report released Wednesday by the commission investigating the attacks.

The plan, proposed by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, also would have targeted nuclear power plants and CIA and FBI headquarters. But the proposal was ultimately scaled back by leaders of the al Qaeda terrorist network who felt it was too ambitious, the report found.

The staff report, along with another that found "no credible evidence" of deep links between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's former government in Iraq, was released one day before the commission conducts its last scheduled public hearing. The panel is expected to release a final report in late July on the attacks and the failures of the U.S. government over two decades to address the growing terrorist threat from al Qaeda.

The latest report, titled "Outline of the 9/11 plot," represents the most comprehensive account of the planning for the attacks, which began in early 1999. The report, based on previously classified interrogations of al Qaeda operatives, provides new details about the attacks, including internal disagreements among the group's operatives. It also depicts the group's leader, Osama bin Laden, as heavily involved in the plot, including picking the hijackers, the targets and even the timing of the attacks against New York and the Pentagon.

Some of the most stunning revelations came from interviews with Mohammed, the group's operations chief, who has been in U.S. custody since being captured in Pakistan in March 2003.

Mohammed said he met with bin Laden in Afghanistan in the spring of 1999 to discuss his plan to use hijacked planes as weapons. Mohammed suggested three targets -- the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol - - as symbols of the U.S economy, military and government. Bin Laden wanted to strike a fourth: the White House, which he considered the heart of American political power.

But according to the report, Mohammed told interrogators that he pushed for an even broader attack involving more planes and more hijackers.

"In addition to the targets that were hit on Sept. 11, Mohammed initially proposed crashing hijacked planes into the CIA and FBI headquarters, unidentified nuclear power plants and the tallest buildings in California and Washington state," the report said.

Under his plan, Mohammed claimed he would have piloted the 10th plane himself. Instead of ramming the plane into a target, he would have killed every male passenger and contacted the media from the air.

"He says he then would have made a speech denouncing U.S. policies in the Middle East before releasing all of the women and children passengers," the report said.

But Mohammed said his plan received only a lukewarm response from al Qaeda leaders, who felt it was too complex. When bin Laden ultimately approved the operation, he rejected Mohammed's plan to land one of the planes and make a statement, the report said.

The report didn't specify which buildings in California or Washington state would have been singled out. But Mohammed reportedly told interrogators that Library Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building west of the Mississippi, and Chicago's Sears Tower initially were targeted, according to transcripts of the interrogations leaked to the Sunday Times of London in March.

The tallest building in Washington state is the 76-story Bank of America Tower in downtown Seattle. The Transamerica Pyramid and the Bank of America building in San Francisco also have been mentioned by federal officials and terrorism experts as potential targets.

Al Qaeda leaders also plotted a second wave of hijackings of U.S. commercial jets en route to Asia. The plan called for exploding the planes in midair over the Pacific Ocean or flying them into U.S. targets in Japan, Singapore or South Korea. But in the spring of 2000, bin Laden rejected the plot, saying it was too difficult to coordinate with the U.S. hijackings, according the report.

The plan agreed to by al Qaeda leaders called for 25 to 26 hijackers, but only 19 men eventually participated in the attacks. At least three of the would-be hijackers were denied visas, one was blocked from entering the country by airport officials in Orlando, and two more dropped out due to pressure from their families.

The plot cost $400,000 to $500,000, much of which was spent on airfare, flight training and living expenses for the hijackers; the ultimate source of the money is still unknown, the report said.

The commission staff report also disputed the notion that the attacks were carried out flawlessly.

"Given the catastrophic results of the 9/11 attacks, it is tempting to depict the plot as a set plan executed to near perfection," the report said. "This would be a mistake."

The report noted that in addition to canceling the proposed attacks on the West Coast and Asia, the group was beset by infighting among its operatives and leaders. Ziad Jarrah, the hijacker who piloted United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania, almost quit because of disagreements with Mohamed Atta, the hijacking ringleader.

According to the report, bin Laden was frustrated by the slow pace of planning and pressured Mohammed several times to advance the date of the attacks. At one point, bin Laden urged an attack on May 12, 2001, the seven- month anniversary of the bombing of the battleship Cole. Later, when he learned that Israeli leader Ariel Sharon would be visiting the White House in July, he again asked for the attacks to be accelerated. Each time Mohammed insisted that the hijackers were not yet fully trained.

The flight skills of some of the terrorist pilots were so shaky that Atta urged them to steer the plane into the ground if they missed their targets. He told associates he planned to steer his jet into the streets of New York if he couldn't strike the World Trade Center.

Atta was also afraid that the White House would prove too difficult a target to hit. According to Ramzi Binalshibh, another alleged planner of the attacks who is in U.S custody, bin Laden insisted that, after the two trade towers and the Pentagon, the White House, not the U.S. Capitol, be the fourth and final target. Atta eventually agreed but urged that the U.S. Capitol be a backup target.

The fourth plane never made it to either target: United Flight 93, the San Francisco-bound jet, crashed into a Pennsylvania field after a passenger- led rebellion against the hijackers.

The commission staff report also documented a rift between bin Laden and former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who allowed al Qaeda to base its operations in Afghanistan.

Omar supported attacks against Israel, but he opposed attacking the United States. Many of bin Laden's senior advisers agreed, in part fearing retaliatory strikes by the United States. But bin Laden overruled his advisers, insisting the attacks were necessary to strike a blow against America's support for Israel and to drive U.S troops out of Saudi Arabia.

"Bin Laden also thought that an attack against the United States would reap al Qaeda a recruiting and fund-raising bonanza," the report said. "In his thinking, the more al Qaeda did, the more support it would gain."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.